Emma Raducanu feels she is playing the “best tennis of her life” after sending Great Britain into the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with victory over France at the weekend.
Raducanu produced another dazzling comeback win to help Britain qualify for the BJK Cup Finals in stunning fashion with a 3-1 win over France on Saturday.
The 21-year-old from Kent produced an impressive three-set victory over Caroline Garcia before defeating Diane Parry in a pulsating contest that lasted two hours and 52 minutes to send Anne Keothavong’s side through to the Finals later this year in Seville.
Raducanu, who is currently ranked 303rd in the world, will next face Angelique Kerber in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart at approximately 6pm on Wednesday – live on Sky Sports Tennis – where she will be eager to kick on from her heroics for Britain.
“Tennis-wise I have improved because I feel like I am playing the best tennis of my career and my life,” Raducanu told BBC Sport.
“And emotionally, mentally, for me to come through the moments that I did the last few days, it took a lot of strong character, especially when the entire stadium is pretty much against you. I can just take a lot of positivity and I really enjoyed this week.
“To come through the moments that I did the last two days it took a strong character when the whole stadium is pretty much against you.”
Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open in fairy-tale fashion as an 18-year-old, has struggled for form and fitness and not progressed past the second round of a Grand Slam.
She also underwent surgery on both wrists and one of her ankles last May, missing both the French Open and Wimbledon.
“To be able to put two matches like that back-to-back, three sets on clay against really tough opponents, it’s just testament to the work we’ve been doing,” she said in an on-court interview.
“I knew it would pay off eventually, so I’m very pleased this weekend it was able to show.”
Three-time Grand Slam champion Kerber won in Stuttgart in 2015 and 2016 and will be a tough test for fellow wild card Raducanu.
If Raducanu can make it past Kerber, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko could await in round two while a third-round clash would likely be against two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Sky Sports’ Laura Robson and Tim Henman analysed Emma Raducanu’s first-round win over Rebeka Masarova at Indian Wells
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